New mamapish of 3

[mamapish]

hi
newbie here......to discus anyway!

.....my friend is moving, and she had let her tanks biological system crash somehow......., I have "MTS" and with it comes several pairs of angelfish and I am breeding them, have about 100 fry ready to go in a week (breeding only as a hobby ....not for profit.....give fish to LFS in exchange for merchandise)


anyway that is beside the point....my friend gave me 3 discus......and I am in love!!!

I got them home tonight, put them in a 20 gal for now...one is small...other 2 are medium sized I think......her water was awful
I tested it and the ammonia was at the highest level.....she said she got tired of changing the water....and they had been in it about 1 1/2 weeks........they are now in good water, but my pH is higher than hers....she put chemicals in hers to bring it down......hers was 6.5.........I brought mine down to 7.0 before bringing them home.

They were swimming around checking everything out, and I haven't tried to feed them yet, I just turned the light off after slowing introducing them......


my question is......how good of a chance do you think they have after induring the ammonia for so long?
could this hurt their breeding ability in the future?
Also.....should I use chemicals to get the pH down in the future......or will they adjust to my 7.8-8.0 water?

(I will be moving them to my new 54 gal once it has cycled.......I know 20 is to small to raise them.....just the only room I had for them!)


Thanks in advance!

[DiscusinDaytona]

Hi Mama,

Congrats on the new arrivals! Looks like you saved their little lives :). I'm not an expert on gill damage, but have been in a similar situation and the little guy is still ok 3 yrs later. Mine wasn't eating when I got it and when it started eating, improved greatly.

Discus are a wonderful and rewarding fish to keep. But as you have seen, not everyone has the dedication to keep them properly.

I'm sure someone will be along soon with info on any damage the ammonia may have caused. Do you know how long they were like that?

Good luck!

Tina

[GoodMike]

HI, (this is plecoguy from other board)
Good to see you hear, so far it sounds like you are doing great. I personally stopped adjusting my ph, and now my discus sit in 7.8 water, but i slowly adjusted them, and my taps ph is constant (after agitation) let a cup of water sit over night, then test its ph, and then the ph right out of the tap, let us know the readings.

[Carol_Roberts]

Stable pH is more important than low pH. My pH from the tap is 6.8, but it rises to 7.8 after as CO 2 is off gassed and the pH stabilizes. Test your water as Mike stated above. IF your water is lots lower pH from th tap you may need to agitate it. (See threads on water changes stickied in the beginner section.) Many of us raise discus in pH 7.8

Depending on how bad the ammonia burns are they should be able to fully recover.

[mamapish]

Thanks for the invite and welcome.....

Tina, my friend had been battling something in all her tanks since December(in my opinion, she had killed all her bacteria, and she would continue to clean everything....even boil it because scum kept building up and clogging things.....I think it was just trying to cycle)
anyway......she would do water changes DAILY to keep ammonia down, she finally got to a point she couldn't do it anymore because of a move and other stuff......

no telling what she was using in the tanks....she is the type that can't leave things alone.....I am wondering if she was using something that was giving a false ammonia reading??

they were in the high ammonia for about 1 1/2 weeks.........

They seem to be doing great this morn ing......I put a few flakes in and they ate quickly!!

I will try to get back there and get pics in a few minutes if the kids will let me! :)

[Carol_Roberts]

Daily 50% water changes are the norm for discus. Changing water to bring ammonia levels down is also a good practise.

She may have been using a water conditioner that gave a false positve for ammonia - ammonia lock products will too.

[mamapish]

I have a feeling I have a lot to learn, and will be spending a lot of time here!!

thanks Carol for your advise........also from all the other post I have read and am starting to learn from.......

here is a pic of the 3....
I don't even know what kind they are.....

[Dkarc@Aol.com]

Well, from the looks of it, the orange one is a pidgeon blood, and the other 2 are red turquoise.


-Ryan

[Carol_Roberts]

That's exactly what they are ;D

[DiscusinDaytona]

Hi again!

Glad to hear they're eating. Nice picture, too.

I'm sure you will enjoy them for a long time. I never knew what I was missing until I got turned on to Discus. Mine are all like children to me and I watch them more than the tv.

You definitely found the right place for excellent advice. I wish Carol and the gang were around in my early years! It would have saved me a lot of stress, worry & $. They have helped me in a lot of "old school" thinking that I had learned and everything is easier now.

Congrats again!
Tina